New footage shows over half of cyclists filmed jumping red lights - how does this change your view of cyclists?

Posted by Duncan Barkes on November 29, 2013 at 05:26AM

Plus, should bullying someone with ginger hair be considered a hate crime? Do you support a primary school rule banning the early use of the word Christmas? And, what's your suggestion for the ultimate music compilation celebrating London?

I hope you are getting that Friday feeling and have a nice weekend planned ahead.

We roused the age old battle of views between cyclists, motorists and pedestrians first off today in the wake of a hidden camera campaign led by the Licensed Taxi Drivers Association. Setting up the cameras at two busy London junctions, the LTDA footage claims that they found over half of cyclists failed to stop at red lights and jumped them.

With this in mind, I wanted to know if or how this affected your views of cyclists. Respect needs to be the common theme throughout this debate, so I was grateful for all of your calls this morning. Are you road user? Where do you stand?

Steve in Crawley advocated defensive cycling over what was frequently termed as an aggressive approach. Susanna explained the view of the pedestrian as well, saying that it was this group that suffered the most from red light skipping.

Interesting calls, the debate rages on.

The middle of our show looked at how a father believes his daughter committed suicide on account of her red hair and the bullying she was subjected to as a result. There can be no doubt that bullying occurs in all walks of life and at all ages, and the outcomes are wildly different and occasionally tragic, but what is the best way to stop it or deal with it? Can bullying someone with ginger hair even be considered a hate crime? Does the outcome need to be considered for the offence and how do you apply it to different people who react in different ways? I wanted to test the water and canvass your opinion on this subject this morning and as ever, your calls acted as a very efficient spirit level.

Matt calling from the M25 explained that at school, he went as far as to shave his head to stop the abuse, whilst Sue in Welling explained that she felt we need to aim to stop any abuse or bullying as early on as possible - a noble point.

For the showdown today, we discussed how a primary school headmistress has banned the use of the 'C' word until December in a bid to stem excitement and distraction to her pupils. Jane Porter has ruled that children as young as four at her primary school cannot say the word 'Christmas' until December because it is affecting their studies and it might even spoil the spirit of the festive season if the build up begins to early. She has been branded a Scrooge and parents have reacted angrily. What do you think of this? Do you support her? Christmas always seems to appear earlier and earlier each year, but is this a step too far?

And lastly, as 'NOW That's What I Call Music!' has celebrated it's 30th birthday, I wanted to know what your suggestions were for an ultimate music compilation celebrating London.

We've dealt with some heavy topics this week, so as promised, we tried to compile our London album. I think we made a good start, here is a provisional version:

1) Waterloo Sunset - The Kinks

2) London Calling - The Clash

3) Going Underground - The Jam

4) Baker Street - Gerry Rafferty

5) Ghost Town - The Specials

6) A Nightingale Sang In Berkley Square - Vera Lynn

7) Maybe It's Because I'm a Londoner - Hubert Gregg

8) A Foggy Day In London Town - Fred Astaire

9) Streets of London - Ralph McTell

10) Lambeth Walk - Noel Gay

11) West End Girls - Pet Shop Boys

12) London Town - Light Of The World

13) London Pride - Noel Coward

14) Chelsea Dagger - The Fratellis

15) Cockney Translation - Smiley Culture

16) London Girls - Chas & Dave

17) Sultans of Swing - Dire Straits

18)Electric Avenue - Eddie Grant

There we go! Be sure to let your voice be heard and send us some of your suggestions as well.

Many thanks for all of your calls tonight, remember to check out our new podcast app that you can download to your mobile device for catching-up on the move. And as always, you can still find the podcasts online at www.lbc.co.uk

Here's to having a lovely weekend, I'll be back Monday at the usual time, 1am.